Estate & Legacy Coordination
Estate and Legacy Planning Conversations for Conejo Valley Families
Estate and legacy planning guidance for Conejo Valley families coordinating beneficiary designations, trusts, communication, and advisor roles.
Financial Advisor Serving Santa Barbara, California
Communities we serve
The Santa Barbara County seat, founded around a 1782 presidio and incorporated in 1850, about 57 miles up the 101 between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific.
About 57 miles up the 101
Santa Barbara is farther from the Palm Coast office on Townsgate Road in Westlake Village than any other community on this site. The drive is about 57 miles on the 101, through the Conejo Valley and Ventura, then along the coast through Carpinteria.
Meetings take place by Zoom or in person at the Westlake Village office, whichever you prefer. Meeting format and availability can be discussed when scheduling, and the first conversation is complimentary.
Meet with us in Westlake Village
2625 Townsgate Road Suite 330Westlake Village, CA 91361
Phone: (805) 429-4183
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About Santa Barbara
What planning tends to look like in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara grew around a Spanish presidio founded in 1782 and a mission founded in 1786, and it incorporated in 1850, the year California became a state. It is the county seat, and the Santa Barbara Foundation has served the county as its community foundation since 1928.
Homes bought decades ago can carry large gains. The federal exclusion on the sale of a main home stops at $250,000, or $500,000 on a joint return, so you may owe tax on the rest of the gain. The foothills above the city have also burned more than once: the Tea Fire in November 2008, and the Jesusita Fire in May 2009, which destroyed 80 homes. If you own a home in the foothills, insurance limits and a cash reserve belong in your plan.
Planning priorities
Planning questions that come up in Santa Barbara
Selling a home you have owned for decades
The gain above the $250,000 or $500,000 exclusion, your basis and improvements, and how the timing of a sale fits the rest of the year’s taxes, with your CPA.
Keeping or passing on the house
Trust funding, Proposition 19’s rule that a child must live in the home to keep your property tax base, and the tax basis your heirs receive.
Giving from appreciated assets
Donating appreciated stock, donor-advised funds, and qualified charitable distributions after 70½, timed with your CPA to the years they help most.
Coverage for a foothill or coastal home
Dwelling limits against current rebuilding costs, the California FAIR Plan where carriers have pulled back, and a reserve that holds if a claim takes time.
Insights
Related reading
Investment Management
Why Asset Location and Timing Matter
Tax-aware investment management guidance for families, retirees, and business owners coordinating asset location, rebalancing, withdrawals, and taxes.
Financial Planning
How to Evaluate a Fiduciary Financial Advisor in the Conejo Valley
Questions Conejo Valley families can ask when evaluating fiduciary financial planning, advisor fit, compensation, credentials, and planning process.
Frequently asked questions
Where would a Santa Barbara household meet with Palm Coast?
By Zoom or in person at the firm’s office, whichever you prefer. The office is at 2625 Townsgate Road, Suite 330, Westlake Village, about 57 miles southeast on the 101. It is the longest trip of any community on this site, and meeting format and availability can be discussed when scheduling. The first conversation is complimentary and is arranged through the secure meeting form or by calling (805) 429-4183.
We have owned our Santa Barbara home for decades. What happens if we sell?
You can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain, or $500,000 on a joint return, if you owned and lived in the home for at least two of the last five years. Gain above that is taxable, so your cost basis, including documented improvements, matters. If you are 55 or older and buy a replacement home in California within two years, Proposition 19 lets you take your property tax base with you, up to three times, with an adjustment if the new home costs more.
Can our children keep our property tax base if they inherit the house?
Only if one of them makes it their principal residence and files for the homeowners’ exemption within a year. Even then, Proposition 19 caps the benefit: the county reassesses any value more than $1,044,586 above your taxable value, the limit from February 16, 2025 to February 15, 2027. If no child moves in, the county reassesses the house at its current value.
How can charitable giving fit into our plan?
Through what you give and when. Giving appreciated stock can avoid the capital gains tax on its growth. A donor-advised fund lets you take the deduction in a high-income year and grant the money over time. After 70½, a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA can count toward required distributions once they begin. Community foundations, including the Santa Barbara Foundation, offer donor-advised funds.
Authoritative sources
These official resources support the general educational context on this page. They are not endorsements of Palm Coast Wealth Management.
Nearby
Other communities we serve
Santa Barbara County
Carpinteria
A small city on the Santa Barbara County coast, about 45 miles up the 101, with beaches along its whole southern edge and the county’s greatest concentration of greenhouses in the valley behind it.
Ventura County
Ventura
The seat of Ventura County, on the coast about 30 miles up the 101, home to the county government, The Trade Desk’s headquarters, and neighborhoods rebuilt after the Thomas Fire.
Ventura County
Camarillo
A Ventura County city west of the Conejo Grade, with a large retiree community, a university, a naval air station nearby, and farmland on the Oxnard Plain.
Bring the moving parts into one conversation.
Use the secure meeting form to tell Palm Coast what you are coordinating. Do not include account numbers or other sensitive financial information.